Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1936 BRISBANE THIS WEEK The Pope’* Health One Pillar Missing Big London Fire A Pretty Good Country News, far more important than •ny English royal marriage contro versy concerns the health of Pope Pius. The whole world, ad- miring the Pope's character and his loyal ef forts for peace, hopes earnestly for his speedy re covery, while millions that fol low the Pope’s spiritual guid ance pray for that recovery, with the cardi nals kneeling at the Pope’s bedside. In spite of his advanced age, there is reason for hope, in his al ways temperate life and his early Alpine climbing expeditions. Mr. Hull, secretary of state, offers “eight pillars of peace” upon which American peace and prosperity might rest. With all respect for the secre tary’s earnestness, it must be said that the most important “pillar” for the United States is not found among the eight. The interesting pillar is a pro tective force of airplanes and sub marines so great as to make any attack upon this country unthink able. When John L. Sullivan lived, bo one hit him. London’s Crystal palace, covering 17 acres, went up in flames, visible lor 50 miles. London has not seen ao great, a fire since “the” great Are of 1660. That fire started at one o'clock in the morning in a house ha Pudding lane; you may read some interesting details in Pepys’ diary. Burning four days, the fire caused great destruction, but did good in the end. It wiped out, for one thing, the great plague of Lon don, that made the citizens mark fheir doors with a red cross and “Lord, have mercy upon us,” and caused the grass to grow in Lon don’s streets. London was rebuilt of brick; after the fire no more wooden houses, and streets were made wid er. Our misfortunes often improve us. Former President Hoover, just now in New York, smiles at the sug gestion that he plans to leave this country and take up his residence in England. The former President, in spite of the “Maine-Vermont” incident, thinks this is a pretty good country and he is right; it made him President. This is “the day of woman,” as a well-known religious leader said. Hongkong tells of a lady, chief of pirates, looting a ship, taking $10,- 000, displaying unusual ability and ferocity. The airplane, in a better way, helps to establish woman’s more- than-equality; Capt. Mollison starts through the air from England to Af rica, trying to beat the record of his own wife, not that of some other man. Flying records depend upon the machine and the nerve of the pilot. Women have more nerve and physical courage than men have ever had, although men don’t know ft Washington reports that the Pres ident, using the discretion given him by congress, will order the con struction of two battleships, to cost $50,000,000 each. Many will hope that the statement is mistaken, especially as the President is said to be doing this to “match Britain’s move.” If we should build those battle ships, squandering $100,000,000 of the public money on them, and then be foolish enough to send them out, in case of war, a couple of $50,000 airships would sink them, or low- priced submarines would blow them up. If you have imagined at any time that the United States has lost its iaterest in kings, titles and nobility, turning away from such things in Ms complete, simple-hearted democ racy, look at your newspaper and see how many columns and pic tures it prints about Britain’s king and his proposed marriage at this time; and observe, if you dine out, the general subject of conversation. It was truly a marvelous recep tion that Buenos Aires and the en tire Argentine Republic, its Presi dent, cabinet and people, gave to’ the President of the United States. An enthusiastic crowd of a million and a half crowded every street in the great Argentine city, now in the spring season, and most pleas ing were two words used by the Ar gentine president, Justo, “Mi ami go” (“my friend”), as he greeted the American President. Those two words, mi amigo, ex tended in all sincerity from one end of the two American continents to the other, would solve the Ameri can peace problem, and this coun- try need not worry about the two words popular in Europe and Asia— “MY ENEMY.” • Kimc Features Syudicats, (M WNU Serrioa. News Review of Current Events the World Over King Edward Abdicates and Is Succeeded by Duke of York — Pope Stricken With Paralysis — Wallace Promises Better Farm Program. By EDWARD W. PICKARD © Western Newspaper Union. T OVE and the British constitution L-* are the winners in the great contest that has stirred the vast empire to its furthest borders. Ed ward VIII, stead fast in his determin ation to make Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson his wife, abdicated as king of Great Britain and emperor of India, and his brother, the duke of York, reigns in his stead as George VT. Edward’s fateful decision was com municated to the house of com mons by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Haggard and deeply moved, the man who has bom the brunt of the struggle on behalf of the cabinet and parliament handed the speaker the royal message and the speaker read it to the half stunned members. This is what Ed ward said: “Realizing as I do the gravity of this step I can only hope that I shall have the understanding of my peo ples in the decision I have taken and the reasons which have led me to take it. “I conceive that I am not over looking the duty that rests on me to place in the forefront the public interest when I declare that I am conscious that I can no longer dis charge this heavy task with effi ciency or with satisfaction to my self. “I have accordingly this morning executed an instrument of abdication in the terms following: “ T, Edward VIII of Great Brit ain, Ireland, the British dominions beyond the seas, king, emperor of India, do hereby declare my irre vocable determination to renounce the throne for myself and my de scendants. My desire is that effect should be given to this instrument of abdication immediately. “ ‘In token thereof I have hereun to set my hand this 10th day of December, 1936, in the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are subscribed.’ ” There followed a request that the accession of his brother to the throne be expedited, and according ly enabling legislation effecting the abdication and the accession of the new king was promptly introduced and put through the house of com mons and the house of lords. George VI Edward VIII The new king was proclaimed with the traditional ceremony following an assembly of the accession coun cil made up of privy councilors and other distinguished persons. That evening the ex-king went on the air to broadcast a message of farewell to the half billion people who had been his subjects. Edward left England for his self- imposed exile and probably never will return to his na tive land. Where he will make his home has not been an nounced. It was stated in Cannes, where Mrs. Simpson was with friends, that he would not go there now. “Wally” publicly offered t o renounce her associ ation with the king if that would settle the controversy, but he chose oth erwise. Her divorce would not be come absolute until April 27, but steps were taken in London to speed up the date. Notwithstanding the widespread sympathy for Edward and his once enormous popularity, the general sentiment throughout the British empire is now that he let his coun try down, that he mainly was to blame for bringing on the crisis and, to quote one correspondent, that “the cabinet’s victory was the only possible victory which could be allowed on the present issue.” The great majority of the people did not think Mrs. Simpson, a commoner and twice divorced, was fit to be queen of England. The cabinet and the house of commons emphatically vetoed a morganatic marriage. If bp would be true to his love, there was nothing left for the king to do but abdicate. For a day after announcing his resignation of the throne, Edward remained king. But as soon as par liament passed the abdication mea sure it was carried to him, and the moment he sigped the document Edward ceased to reign. It was presumed that, with the permis sion of -the new king, : Edward would retain the duchy of Cornwall and its revenues. With his other re sources he goes into exile with an annual income of about $500,000. In all the British dominions steps were taken to ratify the abdica tion of the king and the accession of the duke of York. There was considerable uneasiness concerning the course the legislature of the Irish Free State migh* pursue, for events seemed to give Ireland the chanc^ t/» shake off the last vestiges of adherence U British empire C'ROM Manila came belated dis- 1 patches telling of the worst dis aster that ever befell the Philip pines—a great flood which swept through the fertile and densely pop ulated Cagayan valley in northern Luzon and destroying possibly thou sands of the inhabitants. The full extent of the death toll may never be known. The waters of the Cagayan river, suddenly swollen by a typhoon and torrential rains, in undated many villages and towns in the 50 mile wide valley. So isolated was the stricken area that a former provincial military com mander required four days to fight his way to an outlying point from which he informed the world of the disaster. Military airplanes were used to carry medical supplies and relief agents to the district. CTRICKEN with paralysis that af- ^ fected both his legs, Pope Pius XI was believed go be in a serious condition because he already waa afflicted with asth ma, arterio sclero sis and high blood pressure. At first the holy father flat ly refused to submit to a medical exam ination, saying “I am in the hands of God,” and he even insisted on dictating and signing letters. But later he was persuaded to take Pope Pius complete repose, which his physi cians said was vitally necessary. Father Agostino Gemelli of Milan, a medical expert, was summoned to Vatican City and gave out a state ment indicating that rigid meas ures were being taken to stave off possible uremic poisoning. The pope’s illness was discovered when he was unable to arise for a ceremonial concluding a week of spiritual exercises. He was barely able to stir the left leg and physi cians found that the heaviness of limb had spread also to the right leg. V/I EMBERS of the American ■IY1 Farm Bureau federation, as sembled in Pasadena, Calif., were told by Secretary of Agriculture Wallace that the government would provide a better farm prog*- *n than the AAA; but he also .d the farmer must be willing to accept “small increases in the imports of certain agricultural products.” “In the cause of peace,” he said, “the farmers of the United States must learn to say ‘yes’ as often as possible to agricultural imports from Pan-America, while at the same time reserving the right to say ‘no’ when any vital branch of agriculture is likely to be menaced by too great imports.” Mr. Wallace declared the preser vation of world peace is more fun damental than national agricultural conservation, and added, “there is an important relation between the two, however. Danger of the United States becoming involved in a se rious war comes from the fact that we export goods to Europe and when war comes one side or the other interferes with trade. “Last year 68 per cent of our ag ricultural exports went to five coun tries which are certain to be in volved in any major difficulty in Europe and Asia. Only 10 per cent of our agricultural exports went to Pan-America. Both our hearts and our heads lead us in creasingly to Pan-America but the facts are stubborn and of neces sity can be brought in line with our desires only slowly.” The federation conferred upon Mr. Wallace its highest honor, the award for distinguished service to agriculture. P LANS of John L. Lewis and his associates in the C. I. O. for organizing the automobile industry workers seemingly are greatly fur thered by the formation of a joint council of the United Automobile Workers of America and the Fed eration of Flat Glass Workers. These two unions, controlling as they do virtually organized work ers in the automotive industry, have agreed to unite in a common cause in any controversy with the indus try. They are both members of the Lewis group and so are under suspension by the American Fed eration of Labor. F OR the first time the government has taken a hand in the steel la bor crisis. The national labor re lations board has issued a com plaint charging the United States Steel corporation and its subsidi ary, the Carnegie-Illinois Steel company, with “interfering with the self-organization of employees” in Carnegie’s 21 plants. This action followed the board’s investigation of charges filed by Philip Murray, chairman of the SWOC and M. F. Tighe, veteran president of the Amalgamated As sociation of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. “ Diving to Death 99 By FLOYD GIBBONS L ET’S dive right into this one with Diver and Distinguished Adventurer Walker Kayes of New York City. And remem ber that we’re not only diving deep down into the treacherous cur rents of the St. Lawrence river—we’re diving head first into the River of Adventure, too. What was Walker Kayes diving for in the St. Lawrence? Sunken treasure? Nothing of the sort. It isn’t always the glamorous jobs that furnish the big thrills. Divers do a lot of prosaic work in between those treasure hunts you read about, and Old Lady Adventure has a habit of piling it onto the lads when they’re doing a routine job and are least expecting it. Walker was inspecting bridge foundations for a rail road. In August, 1933, he was looking over the underpinnings of the famous Victoria bridge which spans the St. Lawrence at Montreal. Went Down in Dangerous Current. I said that Adventure always hits you when you’re least ex pecting it. Maybe I’m 'vrong in this case. Walker knew he was going to have trouble with the Victoria bridge—at one spot any way. “I was inspecting the piers on the Montreal side,” he says, “and at this point runs a treacherous rapid which had taken the lives of two bridge workers only the previous summer. The noses of the piers reach too far out from beneath the bridge to enable us to lower a protecting screen to stop the current. All we had to work with was a small plat form, just large enough for two men and the diver, built on the nose of the pier down close to the water. The pump, worked by hand, was up on the bridge and the air line passed down the pier. A short steel ladder was lashed to the platform to enable me to descend.” That’s the picture. Now watch it move. Walker, looking like some strange sort of robot in his air-filled rubber suit and round ball like steel helmet is ready to go down. It is eight o’clock in the morn ing as he steps onto the ladder and little does he realize that at twelve noon—four hours later—he will still be down under the river fighting a life and death battle with a racing tide. Step by step he goes down, hugging the ladder to keep from being swept downstream. Now his helmet vanishes under the surface, and we dive down after him to see what happens. “The current is always less at the nose of the pier,” says Walker, “so I planned to examine that first, then attempt to come up along the side of the shoulder. After looking at the nose, I started upstream, ly ing flat on my stomach to resist the current. I had moved about six feet when, suddenly, I was struck with locomotive force. A cross current had caught me and was whirling me away from the pier—out toward the middle of the stream! Helpless in the Boiling, Foamy Water. “In an instant I was spun around like a fishing troll—crushed by tons of roaring water. It all happened so quickly that the tender had no chance to snub the line. “I was utterly helpless. I couldn’t see, for the water was « boiling mass of foam, and I could no more control my movements in that current than if I had been a chip of wood. But helplessness wasn’t the worst of it. An ever-present thought in the mind of the diver is the danger of the suit inflating and blowing up like a balloon if the head gets knocked lower than the rest of the body. The minute I began to roll, I jammed my head against the air release valve to deflate the suit. I must have done it with too much force, for the small, brass shaft of the valve bent and would not work properly. In the mean time, I was hurtled downstream and wedged into a rock fissure which, for the moment, saved my life.” Tons of water were pounding against Walker, knocking the breath out of him and threatening to crush his body. Then, to his horror, he found that, water, trickling in through the broken air valve, was slowly filling his suit. He began trying to communicate with his tender. The roar of the water made the phone useless, and when he tried to signal by jerking the line the current made it almost impossible to feel the jerks. From the all but unintelligible signals that did come through, Walker gathered that his tender wanted him to move down with the current and be hauled in at the back of the pier. He fought his way out of His Suit Inflated and Blew up. In an instant he was picked up by the roaring water and spun around like a top. Then the dreaded “blow-up” came. His . feet shot up in the air and his head down as the suit inflated ^ like a balloon. His helmet banged against the rocks. Water splashed around inside it. He was worse off than before. And in that terrible current there was the imminent danger that his slender life-line would part. “That line,” says Walker, “was tied around my chest, and the force of the current bent me backward. The corselet collar ,was forced against my neck, strangling me. After what seemed hours, a heavy rope was sent down to me. The life-line was taut as a violin string, and all they hai to do was loop the rope t round it and the force of the current carried it down. But now I realized that I was very weak and everything de pended on getting that rope around me and securely tied. I? took me half an hour to get that rope tied in a simple clove hitch, and then I was completely exhausted. I gave a jerk on the rope to signal the tender, prayed for the breaks, and waited. Safe After Four Hours’ Struggle. “I didn’t mind dying so much, but the loneliness was horrible. After an eternity I felt strong jerks on the rope and realized I was about to be pulled in. It was now or never—and I had about an even chance of getting out before the suit burst or I was broken in two by the cur rent. But it was a strong, steady pull—much steadier than I thought pos sible. Then, suddenly I was out of the water—safe again. My men had borrowed a winch from some telephone linemen working on the bridge, and it was that which had pulled me out with such an even, rapid pull.” It was a surprise to Walker’s tenders to see him alive. He had been under water, fighting for his life, for FOUR HOURS. A few minutes longer, and he would have drowned—drowned inside his suit by the water that trickled through the air valve. “My boys’ faces were chalk white when I came out,” Walker says, “but my own, blue from strangu lation, must have looked worse than any of them.” ©—WNU Service. Mule, Jennet and Zebrula Of animals which owe their exist ence to man the mule and the jen net are the oldest examples, and no one can deny that the mule is a most useful creature. Hardy as a donkey, strong as a horse, sure footed and tireless, there is nothing like it for rough country traveling. Its success caused the production of the zebrula, which is a cross be tween the horse and zebra. The zebrula is as strong as a mule, but livelier and even less liable to dis ease. Sydney Harbor Sydney harbor is a huge haven for ships. The entrance is not im posing. On the contrary, it is so unimpressive that early navigators did not recognize it as a harbor and sailed past to go into Botany bay. The entrance is less than two miles wide and lies between North Head and South Head, two rocky promontories so placed that they seem tn meet and mingle when viewed from the sea at most angles. Task Well Done Have you known the satisfaction that comes with a task well done? Of course you have. Every farmer knows that when a field has been well plowed, a fence properly built or the live stock made comfort able, he can end the day in a satis fied mood and go to his night’s rest with a greater peace of mind than if he knows he has shirked a duty or slighted a job in the day s rou tine, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,” is a good motto to follow. Came From the Canaries Some five centuries ago the little olive and brown serin finches of the Canary islands were introduced in Europe by roving Portuguese and Italian sailors, and selective breed ing in the hands of patient, devoted peasants, from the Alps to the Scot tish highlands has evolved the many varieties of today, in yellow buff, orange, green cinnamon, white blue, fawn and the copper red and black. ! STAR | | DUST ! ★ JM.ovie • Radio $ ★ ★ ★★★By VIRGINIA VALE★★★ O NE of the best of the many special Christmas broadcasts this year will be one that brought pleasure to thousands last year— Lionel Barrymore’s appearance on the airwaves on Christmas evening with a dramatic version of Dickens’ “Christmas Carol.” The part of “Scrooge” has always been one of his favorites. And his performance last year was received so enthusiastically everywhere that CBS signed him to a five-year contract. Whether he likes it or not, he’s become a tradition! There’s one man in Hollywood whom all the male stars go out of their way to be friendly with — and all because they don’t know when he may take a shot at them. Not a shot with a camera, ei ther—a shot with a gun. His name is Sid Jordan, and you’ve seen the ef fect of his work in a lot of pictures. In “The Prisoner o f Shark Island” h e nicked fragments from the stone walls of Fort Jefferson just over Warner Baxter’s head. In “Lloyds of London” he shot bits out of the decks of Nelson’s flagship. And when you see “Banjo on My Knee,” you’ll see Joel McCrea swimming the Mississippi with shots hitting the water near his head—shots fired by Sid Jordan. Joel McCrea After Fred Allen appeared 1 n ’“Thanks a Million” he declared that he was through with acting in the movies. Radio was enough for him (it should be, since he writes his programs as well as acts in them). So he turned down a contract to make more pictures and retreated to New York in good order, with “Town Hall Tonight” his main ac tivity. Now he’s been talked into chang ing his mind. He’s signed a con tract with Twentieth Century-Fox, and so has his wife, Portland Hoffa. Ths Spanish revolution has se riously affected the lives of Grace Moore and her husband, Valentin Parer a. They had planned to adopt Mr. Parera’s four-year-old niece, who lived near Madrid, but for some time now they have had no word of the child, or of Mr. Parera’s mother, brother and two sisters, —*— It seems pretty funny, but it’s true. When Anna May Wong ar rived in Shanghai six months ago for a visit she could not speak a word of Chinese. Now that she’s off for London she speaks it very well indeed—but in England she’s not likely to need it. j i. There’s still a lot of argument going on about Leslie Howard’s per formance in “Hamlet” on the New York stage. Hollywood stars arriv ing in New York make a bee line for the theater; whether it’s good or bad, they want to see it for themselves. The general public seems to feel the same way. The dramatic critics, with a few exceptions, have taken their axes to the Howard “Hamlet.” They feel that it’s pretty bad, and have not hesitated to say so. Mr. Howard has been moved to defend himself in curtain speeches. This “Hamlet” production has been dear to his heart for a long, long time, you know. Apparently he was not pre pared for the roasting the critics gave him. But anyway ths box of fice receipts are good. Screen idols, undaunted by what happened to them the last time they spent a vacation in New York, plan oth er ones there in the immediate future. Their prinicpal haz ard is autograph hunters. It’s a cur ious thing about au tograph hunters; they seem to have a sixth sense that tells them when a celebrity is in the vicinity. It’s hard on the celebrities, of course, but take it frond me it s harder on the friends ocj relatives of the famous ones, who have to stand by and wait while the signing goes on. The fans just elbow them but of the way. The expression on Mrs. Gary Cooper’s face while her husband obliges the fans is some thing to remember! Odds and Ends . . . Homer Rhode* heaver, who leads that Wednesday night Community Sing on the air, commutes from Indiana to Neie York to do it . . • Slim Summerville has a net® five-year contract ... You II like Joan Crawford^ and Clark Gable in “Lot* on the Run” , . . John Boles, Texas born, has been made a member of the staff of the Gov ernor of Texas ... When ZaSu Pitts sailed for England she wore that gorgeous mink coat of hers— one of the most beautiful in the world—which she really bought so that later she could give it to hor daughter! © Westers Newspaper Uniot Gary Cooper